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Friday, 11 September 2009

Mama Mia - A Book Review

I Loved, Loved, LOVED this book. Got it home the day after it was released, started reading about 8pm and didn't stop until I'd finished (about 2am!).

Mama Mia: A Memoir of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood is written by columnist, blogger and former Cosmo editor, Mia Freedman. If you haven't checked out her awesome blog (my gateway in to this wonderful world of blogging!) then you should do so now. Well, after you've finished reading this review anyway.

As the title suggests, this is a memoir, the story of Mia's journey so far, from starting out doing work experience in the Cleo office, to becoming editor of Cosmo, then moving into TV and beyond.

From the back of the book -

Mia Freedman was always in a hurry to kick her big life goals. So when she became editor of Cosmopolitan at 24 and had a baby a few months later, she thought she was right on track. But when things unexpectedly feel apart, she was forced to face a few uncomfortable truths about who she was and what she wanted to do with her life. Over the next decade, she would experience some dazzling career highs and some devastating personal lows. She would leave the glamorous world of magazines for a high profile new job that exploded in her face. She would lose all her confidence and then - eventually - find it again in an unexpected place. She would make mistakes at work and at home, and she would learn some surprising lessons about what made her happy. Mamma Mia is her story so far.

There's a big difference between reading a work of fiction and reading the story, or part of the story, of a real persons life. A memoir has much more meaning and impact on me than a work of fiction (although some works of fiction can have the same effect), but there is something about reading a memoir that always seems to help me put my own life and struggles into perspective.

The thing I enjoyed about reading this memoir was the way in which Mia manages to write about work and personal life in a way that's engaging and incredibly self-deprecating. She opens up herself and her life to her readers in a way that really grabs you from the start.

I think any Australian woman reading this, whether she's had kids and a career or not, will in some way identify with Mia and the thoughts and feelings she shares.

With great insights into the magazine world and the way it works, funny tales of life and an incredibly moving account of her baby-loss and subsequent struggle with infertility, I somehow felt a little better about myself after reading this book.

If Mia, someone who I've followed since her days at Cosmo, who seems like such a cool, together gal, can feel the same way that I have felt at certain times in my life, well, that just makes me think, maybe there's still hope for me yet!

It made me look at my own career and what I want to do with my life, and in a strange way made me feel not so anxious about what life has in store for me.

If you haven't already I would suggest you get to your nearest bookstore and grab yourself a copy now.

4 comments:

This book is on my list and I spend all last weekend searching for it and everyone had sold out! Serves me right for not buying online, but I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on it and making the time to read it. I am a fan of her blog also and know I will just love her book.